Fund flow for hydropower projects increases in the name of combating climate change but what about social and environmental safeguards? Climate change and growing concerns over coal-fired power plants have pushed hydropower development back in the limelight. Hydropower projects had been put on the backburner by many countries after a number of them got mired in controversy. During the 1990s, dams like the Yacyreta dam in Argentina, Sardar Sarovar Dam in India, Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River in Africa, which were funded by the World Bank, were questioned over their social and environmental impact and their effectiveness as a development tool. But things have changed now and the World Bank lending for hydropower, according to a report by UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), increased four-fold from a three-year average of US$250 million per year in 2002-04 to US$1 billion by 2008. The World Bank Group suggests annual lending of US$2 billion for hydropower projects will be possible in the coming years.

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